While the majority of New Zealand was colonized by mainly the English – there was a small community that was originally settled by the French…..well, discovered by some Frenchies and they returned to France with the intent of bringing colonists to settle there; however, by the time they returned…..the English had already also claimed it as their own. The French were allowed to colonize there with the agreement that they be English….

The end result is a small town that is surprisingly French.

Akaroa sits in an extinct volcano. One of the walls came a tumblin’ down forever ago allowing water to surge through and creating the bay you see in this photo.  The town is a popular resort destination where you can swim with Hector’s dolphins….which we didn’t do. We actually came because I wanted to see the blue penguins that also congregate in this area (I’m writing about that next week). I think I would like to see Hector dolphins the next time we come here (because obviously there will be a next time).

I was very surprised by how many French folk live here. We heard a strong French accent everywhere we went. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course, but after hearing the New Zealand accent for weeks, it was a little jarring. But I found it delightful.

T wanted to hike out of the crater to see if he could, in fact, see over the other side. I was unaware of this plan until we were about halfway up. He mentioned wanting to climb higher to get a better view of the area….I didn’t realize that he meant the whole way up. But the view was beautiful!

Gorgeous, right? We didn’t make it to the top…..as I mentioned before, I was unaware of the actual hike we were going to partake in so I was not dressed for it….and weather was starting to get rather warm now. Turns out, even if you made it to the top, there were more peaks behind it….we discovered this later on our blue penguin tour. But it was a lovely day anyway…

We really liked Akaroa. It was a nice little oasis in New Zealand and we highly recommend everyone to visit if you have the chance. It’s about an hour drive from Christchurch in a little peninsula (if you’re so inclined). They have fish tacos here!

Anyway, I know this is a small post for a small town, but we loved it.

Bis nächste Woche! Tune in next week when I write about seeing the blue penguins in Akaroa….and yes they’re actually blue!